Weekend concert: The Specials at Wolverhampton, England, 2009

by paulgardner | Music | 2115 Views

This one is just pure fun. Even though it is a reunion performance, the band is revved up and tight.

This is also a bit of departure from the previous 4 concerts I submitted this month. Those were rock to punk. This one is Ska.

You can get one scholarly explanation of ska here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ska.

I’ve heard a more succinct explanation. In the late 50’s when American rock first came to Jamaica – Elvis, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and the rest of it the Jamaica loved it. They wanted to play too, but it came out ska instead of rock.

Ska eventually morphed into something called rocksteady, then reggae.

When Jamiacans moved to London they took ska with them where it saw a brief revival with the Two Tone (blacks and whites playing muisc together) movement of which the Specials were a big part.

 

You can read more about the Specials here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Specials

playlist for this concert:

0:00:43 DO THE DOG

0:02:58 DAWNING OF A NEW ERA

0:05:30 GANGSTERS

0:08:34 IT’S UP TO YOU

0:12:03 MONKEY MAN

0:14:44 RAT RACE

0:17:51 HEY, LITTLE RICH GIRL

0:21:23 BLANK EXPRESSION

0:23:33 DOESN’T MAKE IT ALLRIGHT

0:27:36 STUPID MARRIAGE

0:31:58 CONCRETE JUNGLE

0:35:16 FRIDAY NIGHT, SATURDAY MORNING

0:38:30 STEREOTYPES(0:41:40 STEROTYPE RAGGA)

0:42:48 MAN AT C&A

0:46:36 A MESSAGE TO YOU RUDY

0:49:35 DO NOTHING

0:53:02 LITTLE B***H

0:55:49 NITE KLUB

0:59:51 TOO MUCH TOO YOUNG

These songs represent pop music at its best. They comment about real lives, sometimes grim, ugly and hard, but make them danceable. A neat trick and rarely done so well. This video refuses to go to full screen on my computer, but the music is great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L-X7GP3jKw

Comments | 2

  • Submitted by paulgardner on March 30, 2013 at 5:09 am

    More info on the Specials

    From my in family source:

    “Here’s some Specials material for you.

    I digitized their records a few months ago and have been playing their first two lps in my car quite a bit of late.

    The first lp is one of those records with a totally unique sound, that I can listen to almost regardless of whether the music is good. Definitely one of the great records of the 1976-1981 period.”

    Whoops…all the digitized graphics – old album covers and newspaper articles – didn’t make it past the filters.

  • Submitted by cgrotke on March 30, 2013 at 8:42 am

    Special Beat

    Fun show… I watched half and will catch the other later.

    Reminded me of the time I saw the English Beat in a chapel in Ohio. Lots of bouncing up and down. It was an era of danceable protest, and politics with a beat.

    This video is great footage and quality. An excellent find!

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